Category: Writers Residency

Salon Sundays are a treat, largely because of a willing audience. Each week a different dynamic; each time a little bit of magic.

There are Sundays left. I look forward to seeing you.

December 4th — Shirley Bear
2pm – 4pmShirley Bear returns to Vancouver to read from her 2006 collection Virgin Bones – Belayak Kcikug’nas’ikn’ug at Kogawa House. A visual artist, writer, and activist she was honored last week at Rideau Hall with the Order of Canada.

December 11th – Open House
1pm – 5pm
Please come to visit Kogawa House for a celebration of the people who created it and keep it running. Can I ask you to bring along something hand-made and simple like a jar of jam, a sheaf of paper, a holiday ornament? We’ll have a craft table with proceeds going to the House.

Other Kogawa House Events Special Screening of Winds of Heaven
Emily Carr was born 140 years ago in Victoria this December 13th. I will host a screening of Michael Ostroff’s documentary film that was featured at the Vancouver International Film Festival last year. It was based on my book, The Laughing One. And similarly explores Carr’s legacy and First Nations’ history. John Walker was cinematographer, Peter Raymont, producer with Michael Ostroff.
Wednesday, December 7th , 7:00pm
VPL Central Library, Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level.

Fauzia Rafique: Fauzia Rafique’s long-awaited novel Skeena was published in Punjabi in Pakistan in 2007, and in Canada last Spring. It is the story of a Muslim Canadian woman, written in Skeena’s own voice, which follows her journey from village to Lahore, to Toronto and finally Surrey. View Fauzia’s page: http://gandholi.wordpress.com/

Susan Crean is working on a book exploring Chinese Canadian communities through someone she knew as a child. Susan has written and edited many works of non fiction. One of her books ‘The Laughing One: A Journey to Emily Carr’ was short-listed for the 2001 Governor General’s Award for non fiction. In 2002, the title won the BC Book Prize for Non fiction. More at: www.susancrean.ca

Tariq Malik, a member of the Kogawa House Board who has recently launched his book ‘Chanting Denied Shores: The Komagatamaru Narratives‘, will also present from his work. He had earlier published ‘The Rainsongs of Kotli’.

Well, I am now settled in at Kogawa House and rediscovering Vancouver with delight. I am counting on seeing you during my stay here. I especially want to invite you to visit me here at the House.

There will be lots of occasions for you to do that over the next two months. Starting with the Writing for Social Change series of readings I host here on alternate Sundays. But I am also planning a party in December.

Meantime, I’m conducting a workshop on Saturday October 29th. for beginning writers who want to write their family stories. I am teaming up with writer/historian Larry Wong, so there will be some emphasis on Chinese–Canadian stories. If you know anyone who might be interested, here’s the info:

Susan Crean is a lifelong non-fiction author and journalist who will live at Historic Joy Kogawa House while working on a major new book of literary non-fiction that combines memoir, history, and social comment to tell the story, in part, of head-tax payer, Wong Dong Wong, who came to Canada in 1911. Crean will live and work at the house for three months while creating this new work. During this period, she will offer local writers and readers a number of opportunities to meet with her as an author in one-on-one consultations.

Crean will also engage in a series of conversations during her residency with writers who use their work as a means of social change. Writers in this series include the following:Poet Evelyn Lau, in conversation Sunday, October 2Journalist Eric Enno Tamm, Sunday, October 16Playwright Tara Beagan, Sunday, October 30Essayist Betsy Warland, Sunday, November 5Writer Wayde Compton, Sunday, November 27Artist Shirley Bear, Sunday, December 4

Crean will also lead writing workshops from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 29, and Saturday, November 19, and she will participate in a craft sale and open house event with local writers from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, December 11.

Crean is an accomplished teacher and editor and her ability to work with other writers distinguished her application from others received in a cross-Canada call for proposals. Among the applicants received, Susan Crean was judged the most skilled writer and the applicant with the most clarity around the public programs to be presented. Crean lives in Toronto, Ontario, but will live and work at Historic Joy Kogawa House throughout her residency, from September 15 to December 15, 2011.

To make an appointment for consultation with Susan Crean, and for further information, please visit www.kogawahouse.com or call (604) 263-6586.